~ psychology and wine

All Dressed Up, Sake, No Sake

Saturday night, I dressed in my skinny jeans and a white t-shirt, my glittery navy blue pumps I bought a year and half ago and looked forward to wearing them for the first time. I completed my classic, simple, sexy outfit with my genuine Chanel earrings and long strand of faux gray pearls. I looked good and I felt confident.

I strutted my way to a meetup dinner at Feng Shui. Meetup(s) are an easy way to meet new people in a group setting and do fun activities with others when you have no friends 🙂 I’ve never met these people and I’ve never been to this restaurant. The group of people who attended were super fun! We really had silly, simple fun at this hibachi dinner. The whole evening was a joy 🙂

Prior to the dinner, I reached out to The Passionate Foodie, a friend of mine and a professional food and wine writer. I’ve never had Sake before and he is a master Sake Educator, I think one of a very select few in the U.S.

Anyway, I copied/pasted the online Sake menu from the restaurant and sent it to him (with what I planned to order for dinner) for his opinion on which Sake would best pair with my dinner choice. He responded promptly and recommended the Kimoto- dry and umami, which would go well with my choice of strip steak and lobster. Oh man, was I excited to go try this Sake with dinner. I have a lot of experience with wine and food pairs but Sake is new and I get excited to try new things!

Seated at the hibachi table, menu in front of me, I happily and eagerly searched for my Kimoto to order. Ugh, there was no Kimoto and the Sakes on the menu had descriptions with no mention of umami. I asked the server about the Kimoto, she had no clue. I asked her if they had changed their Sake menu and she answered no, they had not changed the Sake menu. Her Asian face stared back at me, confused by my request for Kimoto and discussion of the Sake menu. I showed her the Sake menu from their website, that I copy/pasted on my phone, she was clueless. She grabbed my phone out of my hand and said she’d bring it to the manager to see if they had this Kimoto! Off she went, my iPhone in her hand, before I could say Sake.

OMG, now this turned into a huge deal and she had taken my phone!

My table mates found this quite entertaining and teased me that I was needy 🙂 and we had a good laugh. She returned and informed me that they in fact did change their Sake menu and I had the “old menu” listed on my phone. She left again. She returned – brought me a bottle of some random Sake and asked me if this is one I would want to have ” Many customers order this one” she told me, yet she was unable to provide any information about this Sake. Now mind you, I had already told her I know nothing about Sake and therefore know not which one to order. This random bottle she showed me meant nothing to me. Huh? Now, my confused face stared at her. I asked her if she’d tried any of the Sakes on the menu. She answered she doesn’t drink 😦 I wondered- was this server even 21 years old?

For the love of God! now what? I found this all quite hilarious but at the same time, I really wasn’t looking for this absurd drama.

Wanting my new-found meetup acquaintances to see my kind and thoughtful side and a quick ending this server drama, I thanked her for the time and effort she put into this, but assured her I would figure it out.

In the end, I ordered a scorpion bowl, which is a safe bet and always a pleaser.

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4 thoughts on “All Dressed Up, Sake, No Sake”

Damn! Dressed up, ready to make new friends, had the wine list but …. NO! Its disappointing at best. Did they offer a Sake flight? Then you could have tasted several Sakes and compared the pairings yourself. Sounds like the server was prepped to push whatever.

Napa is great. I have a few more tour responsibilities and am pouring in their club room. I’ve heard its been cool and rainy in New England. Bring a friend and come for a visit. I’ll pour free wines and pass along “taste for free” cards at other wineries.